Applied Researcher 1 - Multimodal AI

eBay; Toronto; On-site; CAD 118,000 - 158,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

RRSP eligibility

Medical benefits

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

eBay is seeking an Applied Researcher 1 to advance our computer vision and multimodal capabilities. You will train, fine-tune, evaluate, and deploy models across search, recommendations, content generation, and video understanding.

You will collaborate with product, engineering, and research teams to translate business opportunities into scalable ML solutions, using Python, PyTorch, and TensorFlow, with a strong emphasis on rigorous experimentation and production readiness.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in CS/EE/ML with focus on computer vision or multimodal learning.
• 1+ years building CV or multimodal systems for large-scale apps, e.g., search, recommendations, video.
• Strong understanding of CV and multimodal techniques like detection, segmentation, classification.
• Hands-on experience training and deploying vision-language models and foundation-model systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy CV or multimodal ML models for production across search, recommendations, and video.
• Lead through problem framing, data prep, experimentation, evaluation, and productionization.
• Build training, inference, and evaluation pipelines for modern AI systems.
• Apply rigorous experimentation and ablation studies to improve models.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and research teams to translate opportunities into solutions.
• Communicate progress and trade-offs to stakeholders.

Skills

Python

Research methods

Communication

Multimodal learning

Education

PhD or MSc in CS/EE/ML

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

At eBay, we're more than a global ecommerce leader — we’re changing the way the world shops and sells. Our platform empowers millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We’re committed to pushing boundaries and leaving our mark as we reinvent the future of ecommerce for enthusiasts.

Our customers are our compass, authenticity thrives, bold ideas are welcome, and everyone can bring their unique selves to work — every day. We're in this together, sustaining the future of our customers, our company, and our planet.

Join a team of passionate thinkers, innovators, and dreamers — and help us connect people and build communities to create economic opportunity for all.

About The Role And The Team

As an Applied Researcher 1 within the Computer Vision team, you will contribute to advancing eBay’s vision and multimodal capabilities for large-scale applications. You will work on training, fine‑tuning, evaluation, and deployment of models across problem spaces including search, recommendations, content generation, and video understanding. This role is a hands‑on researcher role where you will contribute across key stages of projects, apply rigorous methodology, and help bring high‑quality ML solutions from idea to production.

What You Will Accomplish

• Develop and deploy computer vision or multimodal machine learning models for production applications across search, recommendations, content generation, and video.
• Contribute across key stages of research and applied ML projects, from problem framing and data preparation through experimentation, evaluation, implementation, and productionization.
• Build and improve training, inference, and evaluation pipelines for modern AI systems, including workflows that orchestrate multiple models and services.
• Apply strong experimental methodology and scientific rigor to model development, including metric design, offline and online evaluation, error analysis, and ablation studies.
• Contribute to core capabilities in classical and modern vision or multimodal problem spaces such as detection, segmentation, classification, contrastive learning, visual-language modeling, and multimodal retrieval.
• Build and improve agentic or VLM-powered pipelines that combine foundation models, retrieval, tools, and business logic to deliver scalable user and seller experiences.
• Partner with product managers, engineers, designers, and researchers to translate business opportunities into practical ML solutions.
• Communicate progress, technical trade‑offs, and results clearly to cross‑functional stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or M.S. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical field with a focus on computer vision, multimodal learning, or artificial intelligence.
• 1 or more years of experience building computer vision and/or multimodal systems for large‑scale applications, ideally in one or more of the following areas: search, recommendations, video or live streaming.
• Strong understanding of classical computer vision and/or multimodal learning techniques, including detection, segmentation, classification, representation learning, and contrastive learning.
• Hands‑on experience training, fine‑tuning, evaluating, and deploying visual‑language models, or other modern foundation‑model‑based systems, including familiarity with the broader modern AI stack used to develop, adapt, optimize and operationalize multimodal models.
• Practical experience with agentic AI workflows and/or VLM‑powered pipelines in applied or production settings.
• Experience with rigorous experimentation, evaluation methodology, and data‑driven model iteration.
• Proficiency in Python and modern ML/data frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow, with fluency in agentic coding and AI‑assisted development workflows.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across research, engineering, and product organizations.

Additional Details

The base pay range for this position is expected in the range below:

C$118,000 - C$157,500

Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including location, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a target bonus and restricted stock units (as applicable) in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including RRSP eligibility, various paid time off benefits, such as PTO and parental leave). Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

This job posting relates to an existing vacancy within eBay.

eBay is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability, or other legally protected status. If you have a need that requires accommodation, please contact us at [e-mail]. We will make every effort to respond to your request for accommodation as soon as possible.